Jude 1
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JUDE
False Teachers (1-16)
1-2 Jude calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1) and a brother of James. James and Jude were younger brothers of Jesus (Mark 6:3). James wrote the New Testament letter called “James,” and was also the chief leader in the Jerusalem church (see James: Introduction).
From Jude’s introduction to this letter, we can see that he was not trying to exalt himself. He had the right to call himself Jesus’ brother, but instead he calls himself Jesus’ servant. Neither did he try to make himself equal to James; he was content to remain in second place.
3 Jude had originally planned to write a different kind of letter to these Christians. But then, having heard that false teachers had entered their church, he decided to send this urgent letter at once to exhort them to contend for the faith1—that is, to defend the true teaching of the Gospel and to stand firm in their own faith. That faith—the Gospel—had been entrusted by the apostles to the SAINTS, that is, believers.
4 This verse is very similar to a passage written by Peter in his second letter (see 2 Peter 2:1-3 and comment).
These false teachers were teaching that it didn’t matter whether a person sinned or not, because no matter how much one sinned, God’s grace was sufficient to cleanse him; therefore, they said, a Christian could do whatever he pleased (see Romans 6:1-2; 2 Peter 3:16 and comments).
By their own evil behavior, these false teachers were denying Christ. Men deny Christ not only by what they say, but also by what they do (see Titus 1:16).
5 The Jews were God’s specially chosen people. He delivered them from bondage in Egypt. Yet some of them stopped believing in God; therefore, God destroyed them (see 1 Corinthians 10:1-10 and comment).
From this we can understand that even though we are called Christians and belong to a church, God will still destroy us if we stop believing (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-12).
6 In ancient times some of the ANGELS fell from their positions of authority and left their own home in heaven because they lusted after human women (Genesis 6:14) and because they arrogantly tried to make themselves like God (Isaiah 14:1215; 24:21-22). In the same way, the lustful and arrogant false teachers of John’s time will also fall, and together with the fallen angels, will be condemned on the great Day—that is, on the day of final JUDGMENT (see 2 Peter 2:4 and comment).
7 See 2 Peter 2:6 and comment.
8 These false teachers had impure dreams, which they claimed came from God. Using these dreams to justify their impurity and sinfulness, they went on committing greater and greater sins.
These false teachers rejected the authority of Christ and other church leaders. They slandered celestial beings, that is, angels (see 2 Peter 2:10 and comment).
9 Evil men slander others, but righteous men do not. Righteous men do not even slander evil men. Even Michael, the chief of all the angels (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 12:7), did not bring a slanderous accusation against the devil, SATAN (see 2 Peter 2:11 and comment).
The dispute over the body of MOSES is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible; it is described in a separate Jewish book. According to this book, God sent Michael to earth to bury the body of Moses. But because Moses had killed a man,2 Satan claimed that the body belonged to him. But Michael did not rebuke the devil; instead, he left the matter in God’s hands. He said to the devil, “The Lord rebuke you!” Likewise, we too should not try to struggle with the devil with our own words and with our own strength; instead, we should call upon the Lord to rebuke him.
10 The thoughts in this verse have also been written by Peter (see 2 Peter 2:12 and comment). The false teachers do not have spiritual minds. Therefore, they cannot understand spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14). Like animals, they only understand how to satisfy their fleshly desires.
When men continue to oppose the Holy Spirit, they soon become spiritually blind and deaf. Thus, when God calls to them, they can no longer hear; therefore, God gives them over to their sins (Romans 1:28). In the end, their sins destroy them.
11 The false teachers are like the loveless Cain, who killed his own brother (Genesis 4:1-10; 1 John 3:12). They are like the money-loving Balaam (see 2 Peter 2:1516; Revelation 2:14 and comments). They are like Korah and his followers, who rebelled against Moses and were destroyed by God as a result (Numbers 16:1-35).
12 The thoughts in this verse have also been written by Peter (see 2 Peter 2:13 and comment). False teachers are like selfish shepherds, who feed only themselves and care nothing for the sheep (Ezekiel 34:1-10). They are like clouds which give no rain; they only shut out the light of the sun (see 2 Peter 2:17 and comment). They are like dying trees which bear no fruit; they have stopped growing (see 2 Peter 1:8 and comment). They have also been uprooted; thus, in a sense, such trees are twice dead (Psalm 52:5; Matthew 3:10).
13 False teachers are like wild waves of the sea (Isaiah 57:20-21). They are like stars that fall from heaven; for one moment they are bright, and then they disappear into darkness.
14-15 Enoch was in the seventh generation from Adam, the first man (Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5). Enoch himself prophesied about the second coming of Christ, and about how Christ would be accompanied by thousands of his holy ones, that is, His angels (Matthew 25:31-33,41). In these verses, Jude quotes a passage from a Jewish book called the Book of Enoch.
16 Here we can again see the behavior of false teachers and false Christians. They are grumblers and faultfinders (see Numbers 11:1; 1 Corinthians 10:10; Philippians 2:14 and comments). Those who grumble and find fault are really finding fault with God. Whenever we grumble about anything we insult God, because God is the one who ultimately arranges everything in our lives.
Such false teachers follow their own evil desires (see 2 Peter 2:18). They are puffed up with pride; they boast about themselves. And they flatter others in order to gain some advantage for themselves (see James 2:1 and comment).
Are there any false teachers in our church? Are any of us behaving like the false teachers described in these verses? Let each person examine himself.
A Call to Persevere (17-25)
17-19 The apostles have given many warnings about false teachers (see Acts 20:29-30; 1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Peter 3:3 and comments).
The false teachers considered themselves to be superior to others. They remained separate from other believers. They went from church to church and divided the believers by accusing some of being false Christians. But it was, in fact, they who were the false Christians!
20-21 … build yourselves up in your most holy faith—that is, in the teachings and doctrines of Christ. In order to build ourselves up—to grow in faith—it is essential that we study and meditate upon the teachings of the Bible (see Hebrews 5:1214; 1 Peter 2:2 and comments).
… pray in the Holy Spirit (verse 20). When Christ’s Holy Spirit is in us, we shall pray “in the Spirit” (see Romans 8:9,26; Ephesians 6:18 and comments).
Keep yourselves in God’s love (see Romans 11:22 and comment). Jesus said: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love” (John 15:9-10).
22-23 Whenever a brother in the church begins to doubt about his faith or about Christian doctrine, we must at first admonish him gently and patiently and show him the right way. But if he has begun to follow false teaching, we must try more forcefully to turn him back to the truth. If a small child goes near the fire, we immediately grab him and forcefully pull him back. The one who begins to follow false teaching is about to fall into the fire! Let us snatch such a person from the fire!
To others who have fallen into sin we must show mercy mixed with fear (verse 23). The fear we should have is the fear that we, too, could easily fall into sin. We should remember that if it were not for the grace of God, we could have fallen into the same sin that our brother has fallen into. We must show love and mercy to the sinner, but we should hate his sin. We must remain apart from his sin (2 Corinthians 7:1). A man’s clothing is stained by his sin (Zechariah 3:3-4). Therefore, let us be careful not to “stain” our clothing (see Revelation 3:4).
24-25 God is able to keep you from falling. God is able (see Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:20-21). He will present us before His glorious presence without fault. Through faith in Christ we shall be cleansed from sin. Through our blameless Savior, we too will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 1:8-9). And through Christ, who is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3), God Himself is glorified. To him … to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
1 In this context, the word faith means the Gospel, or the true teachings taught by Jesus and the apostles.
2 According to Exodus 2:12, Moses once killed an Egyptian who was mistreating a Jew.